First Special Stakes

Last updated
First Special Stakes
Discontinued stakes race
Location Gravesend Race Track
Gravesend, Coney Island, NY
Inaugurated1886-1909
Race type Thoroughbred - Flat racing
Race information
Distance1¼ miles (10 furlongs)
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationThree-years-old and up

The First Special Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run between 1886 and 1909 at Gravesend Race Track in Gravesend, on Coney Island, New York. The race was run on dirt at a distance of one and one-quarter miles and was open to horses of either sex age three and older since 1887.

Contents

Historical notes

The 1886 inaugural running was for three-year-olds only and the one time it was raced at one and one-half miles. There were just two horses participating in the 1886 race won by Dewdrop who beat that year's Kentucky Derby winner Ben Ali.

In 1887, the race marked the beginning of an important event for older horses with the First Special Stakes attracting the top horses to such an extent that 14 of the 24 editions of the race were won by Champions. Fair Play, one of the non-champions who is best known today as the sire of Man o' War, won the 1908 running in track record time.

Demise of the First Special Stakes

After years of uncertainty, on June 11, 1908, the Republican controlled New York Legislature under Governor Charles Evans Hughes passed the Hart–Agnew anti-betting legislation with penalties allowing for fines and up to a year in prison. [1] The owners of Gravesend Race Track, and other racing facilities in New York State, struggled to stay in business without income from betting. [2] Racetrack operators had no choice but to drastically reduce the purse money being paid out which resulted in the cancellation of the Second Special Stakes after 1907 so that limited funds could be used to maintain the purses offered for other high-profile races. [3] Nonetheless for 1908 and 1909 the purse for the First Special Stakes was well less than half of what it had been. [4] Further restrictive legislation was passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 which deepened the financial crisis for track operators and led to a complete shut down of racing across the state during 1911 and 1912. After a 1911 amendment to the law to limit the liability of owners and directors was defeated, every racetrack in New York State shut down. [5] Owners, whose horses of racing age had nowhere to go, began sending them, their trainers and their jockeys to race in England and France. Many ended their racing careers there, and a number remained to become an important part of the European horse breeding industry. Thoroughbred Times reported that more than 1,500 American horses were sent overseas between 1908 and 1913 and that of them, at least 24 were either past, present, or future Champions. [6] When a February 21, 1913 ruling by the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division ruling saw horse racing return in 1913 it was too late for the Gravesend horse racing facility never reopened. [7] [8]

Records

Speed record:

Most wins:

Most wins by a jockey:

Most wins by a trainer:

Most wins by an owner:

Winners

Year
Winner
Age
Jockey
Trainer
Owner
Dist.
(Miles)		Time
Win$
1909 Fitz Herbert Ŧ3 Eddie Dugan Sam Hildreth Sam Hildreth 1 1/4 M2:05.20$2,300
1908 Fair Play 3Eddie Dugan A. Jack Joyner August Belmont Jr. 1 1/4 M2:03.40$2,250
1907 Ballot Ŧ3 David Nicol James G. Rowe Sr. James R. Keene 1 1/4 M2:07.00$5,000
1906Cottontown3Leroy Williams Auval John Baker Patrick J. Millett1 1/4 M2:05.60$5,250
1905Colonial Girl6 LaVerne Sewell Charles E. RoweCharles E. Rowe1 1/4 M2:07.80$4,800
1904 Beldame Ŧ3 Frank O'Neill Fred Burlew Newton Bennington (Lessee)1 1/4 M2:06.00$4,950
1903 McChesney 4 Grover Fuller Frank M. TaylorEdward E. Smathers1 1/4 M2:08.00$4,920
1902 Hermis Ŧ3 George M. Odom John H. McCormack Louis V. Bell1 1/4 M2:06.20$2,875
1901Advance Guard4 Tommy Burns Alexander ShieldsJames Carruthers & Alexander Shields1 1/4 M2:08.00$2,825
1900 Kinley Mack Ŧ4 Patrick McCue Peter Wimmer Augustus Eastin & Samuel Edward Larabie1 1/4 M2:08.20$2,475
1899 Imp Ŧ5Peter Clay Charles E. Brossman Daniel R. Harness1 1/4 M2:09.80$2,875
1898 Briar Sweet Ŧ3 Danny Maher Walter B. Jennings Walter B. Jennings1 1/4 M2:07.25$2,650
1897 Ben Brush Ŧ4 Willie Simms Hardy Campbell Jr. Michael F. Dwyer 1 1/16 M1:48.25$1,850
1896Flying Dutchman4 Skeets Martin Patrick DunnePatrick Dunne1 1/4 M2:09.25$1,850
1895 Henry of Navarre Ŧ3 Henry F. Griffin John J. Hyland August Belmont Jr. 1 1/4 M2:09.00$1,850
1894 Banquet 7Willie SimmsHardy Campbell Jr.Michael F. Dwyer1 1/4 M2:15.50$2,650
1893 Lamplighter Ŧ4 Fred Taral John Huggins Rancocas Stable (Pierre Lorillard)1 1/4 M2:13.50$2,850
1892 Lamplighter Ŧ3Willie Simms John W. Rogers Samuel S. Brown 1 1/4 M2:09.25$5,000
1891Tenny5 Shelby Barnes William H. Karrick David T. Pulsifer1 1/4 M2:09.25$4,700
1890 Kingston Ŧ6 Jim McLaughlin Hardy Campbell Jr.Michael F. Dwyer1 1/4 M2:09.25$4,650
1889 Kingston Ŧ5 Isaac Burns Murphy Frank McCabe Dwyer Brothers Stable 1 1/4 M2:06.50$4,550
1888 Kingston Ŧ4Isaac Burns MurphyFrank McCabeDwyer Brothers Stable1 1/4 M2:11.25$2,640
1887Volante5Isaac Burns Murphy Albert Cooper Lucky Baldwin 1 1/4 M2:12.00$2,800
1886 Dewdrop 3Jim McLaughlinFrank McCabeDwyer Brothers Stable1 1/2 M2:41.00$2,850

Ŧ denotes a Champion.

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References

  1. ↑ "Penalties in the New York Bills". Daily Racing Form. 1908-01-18. Retrieved 2018-10-26– via University of Kentucky Archives.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. ↑ "Keep Up Betting Ban". New York Times. 1908-09-01. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  3. ↑ "Coney Island Clubs Sturdy Stand". Daily Racing Form. 1908-08-11. Retrieved 2019-02-03– via University of Kentucky Archives.
  4. ↑ "Striking Falling off in Value of Ten Greatest Stakes". Daily Racing Form. 1910-07-16. Retrieved 2018-10-15– via University of Kentucky Archives.
  5. ↑ "Race Track Bill Defeated In Senate; Measure Modifying Directors' Liability for Gambling Fails of Passage". The New York Times. July 14, 1911. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  6. ↑ "- Thoroughbred Times". Thoroughbred Times. February 14, 2000. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Destruction Wrought by Hughes". Daily Racing Form. 1908-12-15. Retrieved 2018-11-30– via University of Kentucky Archives.
  8. ↑ "Famous Old Track is Sold". Daily Racing Form. 1914-11-17. Retrieved 2018-11-30– via University of Kentucky Archives.
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